Getting Pumped Up to Work Out

by tinareale on October 18, 2012

Morning, my fine friends! I will be traveling my little booty off today (leaving at 7:30 and not arriving until 4 pm), so figured it was the perfect time to break out another guest post from one of my FitFluential friends! Kammie never fails to make me drool with her recipes (you won’t regret clicking that link), inspire me with her goals, and wow me with her gorgeous photography. Please welcome Kammie and her motivation!

Hey Best Body Fitness readers! My name is Kammie and I’m so happy to be sharing a post with you today on Tina’s blog! I am a healthy living blogger over at Sensual Appeal where I blog about food, fitness, and health, with a pinch of self-reflections. Today I wanted to talk about motivation to get myself to the gym… more specifically, what I personally do each time I’m feeling less than motivated to actually get up and get myself through the door and working out.

Those days happen to everyone – we didn’t get enough sleep and we’re tired; we have a lot of other stuff going on in our minds to commit to those 45 minutes in the gym; the weather sucks and it’s making us feel blah; or sometimes, we just plain do not feel like it. I won’t be so quick to say we’re being lazy, but… sometimes you just feel lazy! Haha, I’ve been there (some months more than others) but I became conscious of what things I do that actually help me change over my current unmotivated mindset and get myself more motivated and maybe even pumped up about working out. In no particular order, here are some top things that help me get motivated to exercise:

Listen to music I usually listen to when I work out, loud – for me it’s hard rock (Linkin Park, baby) or rap (Lil Wayne). Sometimes I always listen to some Top 40 and EDM, especially when I’m planning on doing cardio. Listening to uplifting music makes me feel in the groove and wanting to move… and what better way to move than by exercise?

Watch exercise videos - this one really gets me excited. When I’m not in the mood to move, I go on over to YouTube and check out whatever new workout videos have been posted. Most of the time, seeing someone else working out hard makes me excited to follow suit. It’s unfair to be watching someone sweat on camera and me not even wanting to get to the gym, so my mindset changes almost instantly.

Read fitness blogs – bloggers make all the differenece and FitFluential has exposed to me to a whole community of fitness-minded individuals who love to encourage and motivate others to exercise. Reading some great fitness posts really helps me get in the right mindset because it reinforces the happiness I feel for belonging to such a wonderful community.

Check out fitness-related social media accounts- There are many Twitter users who are all about fitness, weight loss, and motivation. Check out hashtags such as #fitfam #fitspo and #fitfluential which are often tagged in tweets by people specifically for the purpose of getting motivated and excited about the fitness or weight loss journeys. Additionally, bloggers and fitness-enthusiasts with Facebook pages frequently post motivational statuses and images to encourage others.

Pinterest’s Fitness boards – this is almost a given, there is a huge Fitness section of Pinterest which contains thousands upon thousands of fitness quotes to get you pumped up and ready to sweat! Nothing like seeing this to change your mindset and get you motivated to hit the weights..

Hope some of these will help you next time you’re struggling to get up and go to the gym! Or you can always think about the reward you could give yourself after the workout… like a delicious Chunky Monkey protein shake, riiiight?

click image for link to recipe

Your Turn – What is your favorite social media source to use for fitness motivation?

All great ways to motivate! I do love all those great images on Pinterest. I like to keep my fitness routine such an ingrained habit that I don’t hesitate or procrastinate. Easier said than done sometimes!

I totally can relate on the youtube thing! Except I’ll sit and watch for almost an hour, get super motivated, and then realize I just spend the time I had to workout watching others workout LOL. Gotta cut myself off after a few minutes

Glad I’m not the only one to use Pinterest to motivate me haha! Great ideas! I also like to use my son as motivation, I hope he sees me being active and chooses to be an outdoorsy kid, not stay in all day playing video games. yuck!

Online, I think Pinterest has motivated me to be more diligent about cooking healthy meals for my family, but also is a great resource for a myriad of workouts.

I’d like to suggest another fitness motivation tip: take a group exercise class. They have plenty at gyms, but there are also random ones in most communities (i.e. Jazzercise – not as corny as Jane Fonda’s oldies anymore, Zumba, Martial Arts, etc.), and sometimes a little peer pressure can help each of us get motivated.